there was no blood or hair anywhere on the rocks. and the location of jody s body seemed off to cioffi. way off. she was like 30 to 40 feet away from us to the north. a person falls offer the cliff usually they re going to go south or they re going to go right down. reporter: someone else was scratching his head about that night for different reasons. it had to do with steven s behavior while the search was under way. officer walter serrie was surprised stephen was willing to leave the lookout as rescuers were still looking for jody. did he give any indication, i don t want to leave, my wife could still be alive down there? no, not at all. reporter: serrie says he couldn t believe how willingly stephen scharf got into his patrol car. good morning, i m jo ling kent with breaking news. we have knowledge that there has been another mass shooting in
seemed off to cioffi. way off. she was like 30 to 40 feet away from us to the north. a person falls off the cliff usually they re going to go south or they re going to go right down. should have been right down where i got off the ropes. that s where she should have been. someone else was scratching his head about that night for different reasons. it had to do with steven s behavior while the search was under way. officer walter serrie was surprised stephen was willing to leave the lookout as rescuers were still looking for jody. did he give any indication, i don t want to leave, my wife could still be alive down there? no, not at all. serrie says he couldn t believe how willingly stephen scharf got into his patrol car. when i tell you if it was my wife, girlfriend, they would have to pry me away if i was still at the top of the cliffs. he willingly got into your patrol car. without a word state. stranger still how calm the husband seemed. when the officer heard stephen
it back in the garage. he put it in the bag with the pickny items. it was just convenient. it was a convenient excuse for having that hammer. reporter: detectives ask fundamental they could check out the drawer and the rest of steven s house that night. he agreed. but as it turned out, something potentially far more telling was happening away from the action. and i said, look, mr. scharf, i m your local police department. reporter: ted aronberg was told to keep an eye on steven scharf that night as detectives combed through his house. the officer says he began talking to steven about what had happened to jody when steven interrupted him. he finally looks at me and he goes, you don t believe me. reporter: and then the officer says scharf said something that almost knocked him off his feet. i said, i believe an accident occurred and i said was it an accident and he put his head down and he said no. reporter: aronberg believed that was a stunning confession.
ledge or any part of the cliffs. nothing. no blood, no hair, no clothing, no fibers, no skin. reporter: by that point officer walter serrie had arrived up at the lookout. since there was nothing the husband could do to help in the rescue, serrie was told to get him out of the way and drove him back down to police headquarters. on the way, steven recounted the awful moment when his wife disappeared. we were walking and she said for me to go back to the car and get the blanket and she slipped and i didn t see her anymore. reporter: as they arrived at the station rescue cioffi made it to the base more than 100 feet below the top. he expected to find a wounded woman there, but he didn t. i m saying she s not here. i m at the first point i thought maybe this is a hoax. maybe she never really went off the cliff. reporter: he and another rescuer began to walk along the
maybe he s in shock? no, i ve seen people who lost loved ones and i ve never seen anybody act that way. reporter: but it was a particular moment later inside the station house that really caught the officer s attention. and he asked if he could get a direct from the water fountain, he was looking like over his shoulder and splashing his face and made it look like he was crying? you thought he was faking tears. absolutely, absolutely. a death scene where the pieces didn t connect. a husband who appeared nonchalant. from a cop s point of view, things were adding up and not in steven s favor. not just one thing, it was like the totality of the circumstances. everything every little thing was clicking in my mind, i m saying to myself, this isn t right. something is wrong here. reporter: gut instinct is one thing but evidence is quite